🔗 Share this article

The British administration is being urged to "take responsibility" and reimburse the £24.5m cost incurred during recent trips by former President Trump and JD Vance to the Scottish nation, according to a top Holyrood official.

Significant Estimated Expenses Revealed

Preliminary expenses amounting to almost £24.5 million for the two working visits have been made public by the Scottish government.

Ivan McKee described the Westminster's unwillingness to provide funding as "ridiculous," arguing that both trips were obviously work-related, pointing out that the US president held discussions with EU Commission president the EU's von der Leyen and UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer during his summer stay in Scotland.

Particulars of the Trips and Associated Security Expenses

The former president visited his golf courses at Turnberry and Menie in Aberdeenshire over a week-long trip in the summer, while American VP Vance spent approximately four days in the Ayrshire region in late summer.

In a formal letter to the Treasury’s chief secretary James Murray, Scotland’s finance secretary stated that the trips placed "significant strains and costs on Scottish public services, particularly Police Scotland."

The Scottish government estimates that the estimated expense for securing the presidential visit alone was £21m, which reflected peak daily deployments of over four thousand police, while costs for the vice-president’s trip were approximately £3m.

Large-Scale Policing Operation

This complex security mission was the largest in the country since the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022, and involved regional police, national divisions, special constables and wider UK colleagues for specialist support.

Robison wrote: "Following your decision not to provide funding to Scotland for expenses incurred in connection with the trip of President Donald Trump to Scotland in summer 2025 and the subsequent trip of Vice-President JD Vance, I am writing you to request that you review this decision and provide full reimbursement for the expense of the visits."

UK Government Response and Previous Example

The British administration maintained that the visits were private and "not part of official government duties." A spokesperson commented: "Holyrood must cover policing costs in the country as per agreed devolved funding arrangements."

While Robison referenced previous precedent where the British administration reimbursed the cost of Trump’s 2018 visit to the nation, it is believed that trip followed a official invitation from Westminster, in which case it included protection expenses under its statement of funding policy.

"Westminster must take action and cover the cost. I think it’s ridiculous, it was obviously a official trip … Especially when you have the prime minister Sir Keir meeting with Donald Trump, holding joint briefings with him, conducting global diplomacy with him, its really stretching the bounds of credibility to say this was merely a private holiday trip."